Some polling places in California could be affected by power outages that utilities will implement over the coming days to reduce fire risks as dangerous winds pick up across the state.

But the state’s largest utility companies say voting and vote counting should not be interrupted, given emergency preparations in place, coordinated with local election officials.

More than 170,000 customers across California could experience power outages at some point this week as two consecutive offshore wind events cause widespread spread red flag and weather warnings in case of fire. These warnings will be in effect in some regions starting Monday and Thursday.

As of Monday morning, 36 customers in Los Angeles County had been shut off “due to an increased risk of wildfires,” according to Southern California Edison. reported.

But this is only the beginning. Customers across the region — including about 35,000 each in Los Angeles, Riverside and Ventura counties and about 50,000 in San Bernardino County — could experience closures Monday, and possibly Wednesday and Thursday as well, according to David Eisenhauer, spokesperson for SCE.

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In Northern California, Pacific Gas & Electric is considering power outages Tuesday for at least 15,000 customers in 12 counties, the majority in Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Tehama counties, said Jeff Smith, a spokesman for the public service. On Wednesday and Thursday, outages were deemed likely in 17 counties due to “high winds and dry conditions.” PG&E reported.

Early voting continues Monday at voting centers across the state, and on Tuesday voters can voted in person at hundreds of polling stations. Verification and counting of ballots is expected to take at least a few days. if not weeks.

Six early voting locations in Southern California could experience outages Monday, Eisenhauer said, but none are expected to see their operations disrupted.

“We know how important it is for our communities to exercise their right to vote,” Eisenhauer said. “We have worked with county governments to address any potential (outages) using county contingency plans. … We have additional generators on standby if they need them.”

The utility has no outages planned for Tuesday, when there should be a break in the winds for the Southland, Eisenhauer said. He did not immediately know whether any ballot processing centers might be affected later in the week, when more outages are possible.

In Northern California, two voting centers – one in Lake County and another in Santa Clara County – are in the area planned to close Tuesday, Smith said, but electricity is not expected to be cut off before the polls closed. Regardless, he said, the utility is working to ensure backup power generation is available for both polling places because wind conditions and plans are always subject to change.

“We will continue to monitor as long as the weather is there,” Smith said. He said the utility is in constant communication with election officials and the two sites that may experience outages.

No ballot processing centers were located in the area of ​​potential outages, Smith said.

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For Monday, much of the Los Angeles and Ventura County mountains remain under a red flag — an extreme fire alert — due to strong Santa Ana winds and low humidity. North and northeast winds could reach up to 50 mph, with the strongest gusts in the higher elevations of the Simi Valley and San Fernando Valley.

Areas covered by the red flag warning “will be at greater risk of rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior if ignited,” the Warning from the National Weather Service said.

By Monday evening and Tuesday, winds are expected to ease in the Southland before forecasters call for a second wind event, which is expected to hit Northern California first.

In the Bay Area and Central Coast, a Red Flag Warning will be in effect Tuesday through Thursday, with gusts averaging 25 to 50 mph. National Weather Service forecasters said it would be a “long-duration offshore flow event” that would cause “rapid hardening” of brush and plants in the area, making them ripe for fire despite recent rains.

By Wednesday and Thursday, these winds are expected to extend across much of Southern California, with a fire weather watch issued for the San Bernardino County Mountains, Inland Empire and interior in Orange County overnight from Tuesday to Thursday. Much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties are under a similar warning Wednesday and Thursday.

“If a fire occurs, conditions are favorable for rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior that would threaten life and property,” the National Weather Service said, warning that winds on Wednesday and Thursday could be more dangerous than earlier in the week, forecasting “Even stronger Santa Ana winds and drier fuels.”

The interior mountains and foothills of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties will be under a red flag from Tuesday evening through Wednesday.

San Diego Gas & Electric has not reported any areas within its territory that may experience precautionary power outages.

After downed power lines were found to have triggered some of the the deadliest And the most destructive fires, The state’s three largest utilities have adopted a preventative strategy to try to avoid starting fires during high winds. Utilities are proactively de-energizing sections of their networks, a process known as public safety blackouts, in areas that officials have determined are most at risk of starting fires.

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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.